Anatomy of a Premier League title: Six key factors behind Liverpool’s triumph – from hiring Arne Slot to Mohamed Salah bouncing back
Liverpool are Premier League champions after beating Tottenham Hotspur 5-1 on Sunday. The Reds came into the weekend knowing they only needed a point, and they did what they had to in order to secure their 20th top-flight league title, drawing level with Manchester United at the top of English football. Pete Sharland takes a look at the key moments of their season.
Liverpool are officially Premier League champions after dismantling Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield to confirm their ascension to the throne in style.
The Reds are now joint-top of English football for the most titles with Manchester United on 20 and celebrate the title in Arne Slot’s first season in charge after replacing Jurgen Klopp last summer.
It represents an astonishing turnaround for a group of players who looked lost at times last season, so Slot and the squad deserve immense credit for what they have been able to achieve this term.
As Liverpool and their fans celebrate their title, let us take a look back at some of the key moments and factors from the season.
Hiring Slot
Start at the beginning, right? In January 2024, Klopp announced that he would leave Liverpool at the end of the season, triggering an outpouring of emotion and panic amongst The Reds’ fanbase. For the next few months, there was wild speculation about his replacement, with many believing that former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso would come in from Bayer Leverkusen.
Instead, in April, it became clear that the club were zeroing in on Feyenoord manager Slot and in May, it was officially confirmed that he would take over from Klopp.
Slot, then 45, was extremely well thought of in the Netherlands for his work with Cambuur, AZ and finally Feyenoord, where he won the 2022-23 Eredivisie (their first league title since 2017), but it was still seen as a bit of a jump for him.
Now, nearly 12 months later, it is clear that the Liverpool hierarchy knew exactly what they were doing, and they have been well justified in hiring Slot. Not only has the Dutchman brought a level of calm and clarity that is vital after the departure of an icon like Klopp, he has shown tactical nous and a keen knack for player development (more on that later) in his first year in charge.
Winning at Ipswich first up
Liverpool were drawn to face Ipswich Town at Portman Road for the opening game of the season. Newly-promoted side they may have been, this was a tough assignment – Ipswich were making their long-awaited return to the top-flight, and they were going to make sure Liverpool knew they were in for a game.
The first half was tough, Portman Road was electric and Ipswich were flying around the pitch, not giving Liverpool a moment to settle. Having elected to start young defender Jarell Quansah, Slot showed no mercy in hooking him at half-time.
15 minutes into the second half, Diogo Jota gave The Reds the lead. Shortly after, Mohamed Salah doubled it and Liverpool were up and running.
Doing the double over City
When the Premier League fixtures are announced, apart from their own team’s fixtures, most people will look for the big clashes at the top of the table. Whilst Liverpool played Manchester United and Nottingham Forest in the first four games of the season, it was not clear at the time what direction their respective seasons would go.
Instead, the games people looked at were Arsenal at the end of October and, more pertinently, Manchester City at the start of December. Pep Guardiola had won the Premier League in all but two of his eight seasons in England. One was his first season in charge, where he was still getting to grips with English football, and the other was in the 2019-20 season, when Klopp’s side stopped him. Yes, Arsenal had finished second twice in a row, but Liverpool are the only team to truly stop Guardiola, excluding his first season.
By the time we got to December, City were clearly in a funk. They had lost three in a row coming to Anfield and looked nothing like their prior selves. Nevertheless, this felt like the kind of game where champions would come and make a statement. As it turned out, the champions did make a statement, it is just that they were wearing red.
A little under three months later, Liverpool went over to Manchester and won by the same scoreline (2-0) to extinguish what little chance City had in the title race and confirm themselves as the team to beat.
Salah soaring high once more
Egyptian superstar Salah scored in both of those games and has enjoyed a stunning season. Salah was reportedly on the way out at various points over the last 18 months and many wondered whether Anfield had seen the best he had to offer. Little did we know that he and Slot were cooking up something special.
Salah is setting records for goal-scoring past 30, and he is on course to become just the second player in Premier League history to register a season with 20+ goals and 20+ assists after Thierry Henry. He was rewarded with a new contract and has shown that any concerns about his game slowing down are not well-founded.
It is not just Salah either. As we mentioned earlier, Slot has shown himself to be adroit at getting the best out of players who some had previously written off. Dutch midfielder Ryan Gravenberch perhaps best symbolises this.
The club moved to try and sign Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad in the summer and were believed to be on the cusp of confirming the move before the player pulled out at the last moment. Rather than sign a replacement, Slot worked with what he had and brought the best out of Gravenberch, who is finally living up to the potential he showed when at Ajax.
Digging deep in February
Liverpool saw a weird start to February. They began by beating Bournemouth away 2-0 in fairly routine fashion but then suffered a stunning upset against Plymouth in the FA Cup.
Then they went to Everton in midweek for a truly hostile final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park. They looked to have bounced back from the Plymouth game before James Tarkowski’s stunning late equaliser denied them a win.
Suddenly, things were interesting. Liverpool welcomed Wolves to Anfield next, but they then had to play Aston Villa and City away before hosting Newcastle to wrap up the month. Was this the moment the cracks gave way to something bigger?
Not at all. It was nervy against Wolves when Matheus Cunha made it a one-goal game with 23 minutes to go, but they held out. At half-time at a raucous Villa Park, The Reds were 2-1 down but fought back to rescue the draw.
They then went away to City and won and finally rounded things off by beating Newcastle comfortably. The City win came after nearest challengers Arsenal suffered a catastrophic 1-0 defeat at home to West Ham. The win over Newcastle came after The Gunners dropped points against Forest earlier in the night. It was a statement run of games that cemented their status as champions-elect.
Van Dijk’s winner against West Ham and the run-in
Liverpool’s surprise defeat at Craven Cottage in early April did not have quite the same impact given that it came a day after Arsenal had dropped even more points, and, in truth, the title was never really in danger at that stage. But still, captain Virgil van Dijk’s late winner against West Ham, the game after Fulham, felt like an important moment.
A few days later, Van Dijk followed Salah in signing a new two-year contract with the club. Yes, their UEFA Champions League and FA Cup exits were disappointing, as was the EFL Cup final defeat to Newcastle. Yes, losing Trent Alexander-Arnold to Real Madrid this summer could hurt – although perhaps not as much as some might think – and this has been a bad year for both Arsenal and City.
But this team under Slot has shown that they are a true force and not at all a finished entity. There is work to be done to refresh some aspects of the squad, but any worries from Liverpool fans that they might be returning to the dark days have been well and truly squashed. Now the entire club can enjoy this moment and look forward.
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